


The Nightmare

by Jasonwolf18



Category: Final Fantasy XIV
Genre: Disasters, Rage, War
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-06
Updated: 2021-03-06
Packaged: 2021-03-12 10:53:24
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,752
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29883468
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jasonwolf18/pseuds/Jasonwolf18
Summary: The End of Days has arrived. What will the Warrior of Light do as he tries to save his friends and stop the end from coming?
Kudos: 1





	The Nightmare

**Author's Note:**

> So this is a bit of a darker story, where I end up hurting my own Warrior of Light. This is a guess at what could happen in the End of Days that is talked about in Endwalker, and in no way means I intend to spoil things. I seriously doubt that things would happen exactly as I have written anyway. But hope you are ready for the emotional trip that ends with hope for a turn of fate.

**Crack**

The world was peaceful at the moment. The citizens of Eorzea were going about their day, the thought of war in the back of their mind but it was currently not their concern today. Some were selling their wares in each of the city states, adventurers were picking up odd jobs for excitement and money, while the military all prepared on how to deal with the Empire. Animals all over were making their natural noises and the world was alive with life.

**CRACK**

Silence. There was no noise that followed the cracking sound that could be heard all over the world. The animals were silenced, the people of Eorzea stopped moving to turn and look at all directions to try and find the source of the noise. A few citizens even spoke together, thinking that maybe a few shipping crates had fallen. No one could find the source so they went back to their daily life. No one noticed until wildlife swarmed the city states as they were running away in absolute terror as the horizon glowed with a massive wall of fire that slowly moved over the land. Besides the mass panic at the sight of the horizon on fire and trying to minimize the damage from the panicking wildlife, the sound that echoed in everyone's ears was a roar of the world ending.

The Scions were all scrambling in the Rising Stones, with everyone getting different reports from all around the world.

"Gridania is requesting aid in healing the wounded from the stampede!"

"Ul'dah needs help dealing with rioters in the streets!"

"The empire is attacking Ala Mhigo! They need our assistance immediately!"

"Limsa is sinking into the sea! They need help rescuing the people and getting them to safety!"

Each of the Scions had a stressful look upon their faces as they tried to sort through everything that they were hearing. Thancred put down the most recent report, "We are still so short handed. We have to split up to try and cover as much ground as we can." Alphinaud put his hand to his mouth as he thought of the best course of action, "Agreed. Alisaie and I will travel to Limsa to help the evacuation." Urianger nodded as he looked at the rest of the group, "Twould be best that I assist the Gridanians." Thancred looked over at the Warrior of Light and G'raha, "Y'shtola and I will assist Ala Mhigo if you two will help out in Ul'dah." Darkvald simply nodded, "Yeah, that should be fine. You ready for your first true adventure, G'raha?"

With ears perked, barely able to contain his excitement even in the face of such a terrible situation, "Of course. We have a lot to do." Thancred looked at the assembled Scions of the Seventh Dawn, a stern look upon his face, "Then let us all depart immediately." Everyone got up and set about to gather their things. Darkvald went over to Y'shtola and was about to speak before she interrupted him, "Don't worry about me. I will be alright." With a chuckle, Darkvald just hugged her tightly, "Just...be safe regardless. Call me when you get a better idea what is going on. It shouldn't take me too long to end the riots, so if you need back up, nothing in this world will keep me from returning to your side." She just smiled and grabbed his horn, "Such a protective dragon I have. You are lucky that I love you so." She gives him a gentle kiss before disengaging from their embrace, meeting with Thancred as the two depart.

The riots were far worse than the reports had stated. Before they could get into the city, Darkvald and G'raha had to fight their way through rioters and highway men that were burning shops to the ground and pillaging everything they could. The pair worked their way into the city, having to fight so many people that it forced G'raha to adapt into a healing stance to keep Darkvald from taking too much damage as he fought to disable anyone that he could. The guards were even being pushed back by the growing size of rioters, with those who stood by before the rioting soon joined, even as the fire grew closer as time passed.

"Fuck. There are too many and I feel like we are barely making a dent in this riot." Darkvald swore, pulling G'raha into an alleyway to try and hide from a large group of rioters so they can try to catch their breath. There was static in the linkpearl in Darkvald’s ear as they hid.

_“(static)...inia overrun….(static).....leads…(static)...military. Run! Zzz”_

The transmission immediately cut off with a loud sharp static that made both Darkvald and G’raha recoil. “That was Urianger. Gridinia was overrun?” G’raha looked at Darkvald, his ears twitching as he thinks, “But what was that about someone leading the military? Was that about their military or is someone else invading?” He thought before turning his attention back at his friend, “What do you want to do?” With a deep sigh, Darkvald looked back at the city, seeing how several parts of the city on fire. He placed a hand on his ear to activate the linkpearl once more. “Zafera. Valrina. Evacuate everyone from our home and meet up at the Rising Stones. Don’t worry about anything that I have there. We can recover it later, just get out safely!” His eyes narrowed and were grumbling, though he does give a sigh when he receives a confirmation from his retainers. “I hate to say it, but we have to flee. The reports were wrong and we are under prepared for this scale. I fear that the same is for everyone else.”

G’raha nodded and the two cut a path through the rioters to flee to a safe place where they could fly out of Ul’dah to head towards Gridania. Even as they flew away, the fire was only a few malms away from the city.

The pair flew off to check on a few different locations with both Gridinia and Limsa as a few of the locations, only finding ruins and destruction. Even Revenant’s Toll where he had sent his retainers and staff was nothing but ruins and every one a smoldering corpse. The wave of fire that engulfed the land that they had seen before having long past destroyed everything there. As Darkvald sat on the ship, morning those that he swore to protect by sending them to where he thought was safe, G’raha spoke up, “I hate to burst your mourning, my friend, but we have to go to Ala Mhigo now. We still haven’t gotten in contact with Thancred and Y’shtola, and they need to know the fates of the others. If any luck, they would have been able to hold off the enemy that we can regroup.”

Darkvald simply nodded and checked his gear as they flew to their next location, mentally trying to steel himself for what is to come. He was supposed to save everyone, save the world, and yet he can’t even do this correctly.

_Well, no better way than to turn this situation around at the last moment, I guess._

The sight at Ala Mhigo was not any better, with multiple signs of carnage all over. They landed near where the current fighting was taking place, where alliance forces were clashing with the Empire, spells and explosions going off on both sides. Darkvald scanned the field, hoping to see who he was desperately hoping to see. With a slight sigh of relief, he spots the white haired heads of who he wanted to see, “G’raha, I am rushing on ahead. Don’t worry about trying to keep up, just get to us as safely as you can!” With that, his eyes narrowed and in a flash of light he equipped his dragoon armor, one of his fastest moving sets that he had on him.

With a jump that brought him high into the air, blue energy that swam around him like a dragon appeared. His gaze found a large magitek unit moving to strike at Y’shtola from behind. ‘I have to move faster!’ In a split second, he crashed through the magitek unit, a hole appearing through its chest that left his spear shattered. Changing over to his usual gear, he kept his back to Thancred and Y’shtola, “Are you guys ok?”

_Slice_

“So far yes. Did you have to make such a flashy entrance?” asked Thancred, cutting down the next opponent that had gotten close.

_Slice_

“Well we just arrived and I had to get to you guys in a hurry. Can you blame me?” Darkvald sliced a couple more opponents, his eyes finding that they were surrounded. “I take it things are worse here too?”

No answer was given, as none was really needed at this point. The only thing that mattered was to try and turn the tide as much as they could. Minutes became Hours as the three of them, four once G’raha made it to them, stood back to back. Finally, after six grueling hours, they were given a reprieve, with the sound of a horn pulling the imperial forces back. Injured, exhausted, yet still determined as ever, the four worked their way towards the current camp on the battlefield to recover.

The four of them were given their own private tent, where both Darkvald and G’raha went about trying to heal Thancred and Y’shtola, who had plenty more cuts and burns upon them from fighting longer. Kneeling before Y’shtola, a piece of his right horn missing, Darkvald worked on healing as he told them of the state of the other places. How Urianger was dead, how the twins had been buried under rubble, and even worse how he felt responsible for sending people to Revenant Toll to die as they did.

The tent was silent as healing had stopped, and the sight of the Warrior of Light just letting the emotions finally roll out of him, his head in his love’s lap. “You can’t-” Y’shtola didn’t get to finish the sentence as an officer barged in, relaying that the imperials have returned to attacking them, with Zenos leading them. With a sigh, still feeling exhausted, Darkvald stood up and wiped his eyes away from the sight of the officer, “Alright. Let’s end this.”

In a flash, he was in his Dark Knight armor, willing to use that dark power if it meant ending this.

The battle wasn’t going as easily as the hero had hoped. The imperials almost had a possessed zeal to them, making them fight harder than ever before, and it was taking everything Darkvald had to push them back. At some point all four of them had gotten separated, winding up far away from each other, lost in a sea of bodies. Each swing of his sword, Darkvald slowly worked his way to where the closest sound of one of his friends.

“Stay back! You won’t get the best of me!”

Darkvald’s eyes had widened, hearing G’raha was the closest that he was working towards. “G’raha! I’m coming! Just keep them back a little longer!” Turning his gaze upon the glowing red eyes of the army in front of him, he shouted “ **Get out of my way!** ” as he charged towards the sound of his friend, feeling like the enemy was putting up a harder resistance now that he had made his intention known.

_Slice_

There was a small gap in front of him, just enough that he could barely see G’raha fighting for his life.

_Slice_

The gap had gotten wider as he was closer now. Just a few more steps.

_Slice_

Darkvald’s heart nearly stopped as he just made it through as he witnessed his friend get cut down in front of him. One of the imperials with glowing red eyes turned to him and spoke in a haunting voice. _"You better hurry. I don’t think the others will last much longer. Then it’s your turn.”_

He was about to retort until he heard a pained noise from Thancred. With one last look at G’raha, he turned and ran, finding that he wasn’t having to fight as much this time. Most of the imperials were now standing out of his way. Until he was only a couple hundred yalms away from Thancred’s position. Then the enemy started to push him back with a Colossus nearly cutting the Warrior of Light’s sword in half with a swing.

“Gah!”

Darkvald was starting to tremble with rage as he heard the pained sounds from Thancred. When his sword broke, he used the broken blade to shove through the colossus' head, letting him launch himself to Thancred’s position, this time finding a bullet wound through his head and his gunblade cut in half. Switching to the last bit of gear that he had left, his primary method of fighting, Darkvald gripped his katana tightly. The fighting had all but stopped at this point, and Darkvald felt his blood turn to ice in his veins as he heard his linkpearl go off.

“Darling...run. I am sure that the others are dead right now. You have to-” there was a pained noise as a new voice spoke through the linkpearl, “Oh we can’t have you running away just yet, my best friend. It looks like this kitten here means a lot to you. I can’t let her ruin our greatest battle yet. I think this time I will finish her off for good.” With that, the connection cut off and Darkvald went into a blind sprint, his vision turning red as he cut down every soldier that was in his way, even as they stood to the side to lead him right where Zenos was waiting.

The world was on fire. The battlefield was on fire. As Darkvald was racing towards Zenos, the fire was consuming his own army till it was just Zenos, Darkvald, and an injured Y’shtola that he had by the neck. “Zenos! Let her go!” Darkvald launched himself at his opponent, swinging his blade to try and cut the arm that was holding his beloved, only to get sent flying with a swing of the sword and the katana cut in half. Clutching his chest from the wound that was inflicted, Darkvald pressed his broken blade into the ground, staring up at Zenos in a mixture of fear and hatred.

“Now, my friend. With this last string cut, the stage will be set for our grandest finale this world has ever seen.” Right before his eyes, Darkvald stared in horror as Zenos pulled his arm back and thrust his sword through Y’shtola’s chest, with her giving him a comforting smile as if to say ‘You will be fine’. With a scream of pure rage, tears rolling down his face, Darkvald had only one thought left in his mind, to end this man’s life, even if the Star itself had to be destroyed.

“That is the timeline that is to happen.”

Valastrasz sighed as he sat in a cave, holding the crystal ball in his hand to look at the image of a bronze dragon on the other end. “Are you sure, Uncle Nozdormu? Is there a way to stop it from happening?” The bronze scaled dragon sighed and looked at him through the orb, “What have I told you about messing with the flow of time? Surely your mother has told you about our charges.” Valastrasz looked away with a defeated look before turning to look back, “Come on, uncle. Surely the death of everyone is not the fate of things. You guys stopped the Hour of Twilight, so what is the difference here?”

The older dragon shook his head before finally speaking, “We temporarily used up all of our tremendous power just to do that. You don’t have the same power that your mother or the rest of us have. But…” This made Valastrasz arch his eyebrow, “Your mother would convince one of my other consorts to alter the timeway if she found out that this was the fate of the world she sent you in. Just...don’t tell your mother about this.” Valastrasz smiled and nodded, “I won’t uncle. Just tell me what I have to do to save this world.” Nozdormu chuckled and shook his head, “You are definitely your father’s kid. First thing that you have to do is…”


End file.
